China Hospital Managers Ignore Grieving Family

A viral video shot by a journalist for Chinese news site Dazhong Net shows a trio of Shouguang City People’s Hospital managers sitting in apparent nonchalance as a small group kneel before them with their heads bowed beseechingly.

According to the video and accompanying article (here), the kneeling relatives of recently deceased Guo Panzhong were seeking answers regarding his 17 July death.

Guo’s family say he was admitted to Shoguang City People’s Hospital on 16 July with a chest complaint. A CT scan of the area was prescribed and paid for, but Guo was told the machine had been switched off for the day.

Early the next morning, Guo’s condition worsened significantly. After receiving an injection, he began to cough blood, then to vomit blood. Still, hospital staff refused to turn on the CT scan machine.

Guo died an hour later. The hospital’s complete reply to the family’s request for his cause of death was, “The hospital made no mistakes.”

Mid-protest, the journalist arrived on the scene with his video camera. The footage shows hospital personnel grabbing at the camera and shouting, “What are you doing?” A fracas ensues, in which shouts of “Go upstairs!” are heard.

The journalist claims he was slapped and hit in the head by staff members. He also says his phone was snatched from him as he tried to call the police.

When he attempted to leave the hospital, three employees reportediy forced him into a meeting room and threatened him into agreeing not to publicize the incident.

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